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Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer was a retired American serviceman and a former federal agent, who was responsible for saving multiple American citizens from potentially devastating terrorist attacks on more than one occasion. He took a leadership role in various covert and undercover missions, and served as both CTU Director and Director of Field Operations at CTU Los Angeles. His dedication to keeping U.S. citizens safe allowed him to thwart the terrorist acts throughout all 9 Days; but his dedication led him to make some deep personal sacrifices. Jack lost his wife in the final hour of Day 1, was forced to fake his death and live in hiding (at the cost of a stable relationship with his daughter) in the aftermath of Day 4, sacrificed his freedom for a period of nearly two years after Day 5, became temporarily infected and debilitated by the Prion variant during Day 7, and ultimately lost his freedom after Day 9. He showed his willingness to sacrifice his life on multiple occasions, but each time his sacrifice ultimately proved to be unnecessary. History Backstory Jack Bauer was born on February 18, 1966 to industrialist Phillip Bauer and Shirley Bauer. He was raised in Santa Monica, California. Jack's mother died when he was a child and he was never close to his father, nor to his older brother Graem. He also lived an atypical life for an upper-class teenager. He shunned his family's wealthy background and rode motorcycles and often surfed for fun. A couple of months before graduating from high school, Jack's girlfriend, Teri, became pregnant. A few days after Jack graduated, he and Teri were married. He later began attending the University of California, Los Angeles. To financially support his wife and daughter, Kim, Jack worked various part-time jobs while also attending college classes. He graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and then enlisted in the United States Army as an officer candidate. Military and law enforcement career Upon completing basic combat training, Jack went on to Officer Candidate School. After OCS, he attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course and then the U.S. Army Airborne School. After airborne training, Jack went through the Ranger Orientation Program and Ranger School, earning his Ranger Tab. He was then assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment as a platoon leader in the 3rd Ranger Battalion. Eventually, Jack rose to the position of company executive officer. Having honed his field skills as an Airborne Ranger, he later attended and graduated from the Infantry Officer Advanced Course. Soon after, Jack attended the Assessment and Selection Course for the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. Upon successful completion of the course, he went on to the Operator Training Course. Afterwards, Jack joined Delta Force as an assault troop commander. Sometime later, he earned a Silver Star for his actions during one covert operation in Bosnia. Jack left the Army after eight years of distinguished service and then applied to join the Central Intelligence Agency. Before he could join the Agency, he had to go through a thorough medical and psychological exam, a polygraph interview and an extensive background investigation. Upon successfully completing the entire application process, Jack was selected to serve in the CIA's Special Operations Group of the Special Activities Division. After an orientation period, he was sent to the CIA Special Training Center - "The Farm," Camp Peary for intensive operational training. There, Jack went through the Basic Operations Course, which trained him in various so-called "tradecraft" skills, including infiltration and exfiltration techniques. While at The Farm, he received exceptionally high marks for physical endurance, logic, and psychological ops exercises. First years at CTU After training, he became a paramilitary operations officer. In this capacity, Jack participated in clandestine and covert CIA paramilitary operations all over the world. A little under year into his CIA career, his exemplary work caught the attention of Christopher Henderson, the Director of Field Operations for the Los Angeles Domestic Unit of the Counter Terrorist Unit. Henderson contacted Jack and made an offer of employment with CTU. The Counter Terrorist Unit is a U.S. government agency set up to relieve other American federal agencies of their scattered counter-terrorist programs by consolidating the U.S. civilian anti-terrorist effort into one organization. Although loosely affiliated with the CIA, CTU is an independent agency. Therefore, unlike the CIA, its operational jurisdiction is both foreign and domestic. Jack accepted the job offer and joined the Los Angeles Domestic Unit as the Assistant Director of Field Operations. On Jack's first day at CTU Los Angeles, his first mission was to protect the recently-defected IRA member Moira O'Neal from attack by her former associates. Four agents died when Tim McGinnis' crew of hitmen attacked the safe house where O'Neal was being held. Jack managed to escape to safety with O'Neal, and later killed McGinnis' group before they could get to her. Over the next few years, Jack took part in many more anti-terrorism operations, several of which were declassified following the 9/11 attacks. He was the Section Captain of the Hotel Los Angeles attack in 1991, and the Team Leader of Operation Proteus in 1993. Operation Nightfall In 1994, Jack was reactivated by Delta Force for a mission in Kosovo to assassinate Victor Drazen, a military commander and war criminal in the regime of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic. The mission, codenamed "Nightfall", would prove to have dire and profound consequences for both Jack himself and the United States. The mission was authorized by Senator David Palmer in his capacity as a member of the Senate's Special Defense Appropriations Committee and coordinated by NSA operative Robert Ellis. Jack hand-picked a team of five Delta operatives, as well as an agent on loan from Britain's MI6, Stephen Saunders. During the course of the operation, Bauer's team was betrayed by their contact on the ground, resulting in the deaths of all of the team members except for Bauer and Saunders. Moreover, their efforts were compromised by the actions of CIA Deputy Director Tony Webster, who inadvertently learned of the mission and intended to capture Drazen alive for information on his dealings with terrorist and organized crime groups around the world. While Bauer and Saunders managed to destroy the command bunker where they observed Drazen entering, it was later revealed that the man had been a body double, and that Drazen's wife and daughter had both been inside the building and perished. Bauer and Saunders were separated following the explosion; while Bauer escaped, Saunders, presumed dead, was actually captured by Milosevic's security forces and tortured for several years before being released. Victor Drazen was captured by a team sent by Webster and held in total secrecy in the United States for the next two years, while his sons Andre and Alexis plotted their revenge against those responsible for their mother and sister's deaths. After Nightfall Following the mission, Jack became distant and withdrawn, causing his relationship with Teri - already strained by the secret nature of his profession - to suffer, and the two decided to separate six months before Day 1. During their separation Jack had an affair with Nina Myers, his CTU colleague. Shortly before Day 1, Jack moved back in with Teri and Kim and the couple began working in earnest to repair their marriage. Kim remained very resentful towards her mother even after Jack moved back in. By 1996, Jack attained the rank of Director of CTU Los Angeles, with Nina serving as Chief of Staff. Day 1 On April 23rd, 1996 after midnight, Kim snuck out of the house. Jack and his wife Teri were handling the situation, when Jack was called into work. Jack was forced to leave and after he arrived at CTU, he learned that there was a possible assassination attempt on Senator David Palmer (a Presidential candidate). As the Director of CTU, Jack was put in charge of the investigation. He also learned from Richard Walsh that there is a mole inside CTU. After the death of Scott Baylor and Walsh, the only people Jack could trust were Nina Myers and Jamey Farrell. Jack eventually learned that his daughter was kidnapped and Ira Gaines began to blackmail him. If Jack didn't follow Gaines' orders, Gaines would kill Kim. After Jack switched a keycard, that had information on the Palmer hit, he was forced to help Jonathan Matijevich assassinate Palmer. However, Jack was able to create a diversion and save Palmer's life. Jack was arrested by the FBI, but he was able to escape. Teri was also kidnapped and Jack was able to get in touch with her. With help from Nina and Tony Almeida, Jack successfully rescued his family. However, Ryan Chappelle and Alberta Green took him into custody for the attempted assassination of Senator Palmer. When Jack met with Palmer, they realized that the sons of Victor Drazen were getting revenge for their father's death (Jack had lead the team that killed him, while Palmer had authorized the mission). With help from Palmer, Jack was reinstated at CTU. Eventually Jack was lead to a detention facility and discovered that Drazen himself was still alive. With help from Mark DeSalvo, Jack transported Drazen, but Andre Drazen had the power shut down at the facility. Jack ended up getting taken hostage and the Drazens were willing to trade Jack for Alexis Drazen, who was in CTU custody. After George Mason received pressure from Palmer, he went forward with the trade. After stopping a second attempt on Palmer's life, Jack went to meet with the Drazens, as they recaptured his daughter. Before going forward with the trade, Jack got a call from Nina (who is now revealed to be a traitor) who falsely told him Kim was dead. Jack killed Victor and Andre in cold blood and when he realized Nina lied to him, he sent proof to Mason that revealed that it was Nina who murdered Jamey and she was arrested. The day did not end without a personal sacrifice for Jack: Teri was shot and killed by Nina moments before her capture. Jack discovers this too late, arriving only in time to see Teri's lifeless body; he cradled her, saying, "I'm sorry, so sorry." Category:Characters